from your house, and yet lives in the same town with you. Now I have said there are three hundred and eight towns in Massachusetts. Massachusetts, therefore, must contain a very large quantity of land; and I suppose you would be glad to know how large it is. Massachusetts is about one hundred and thirty miles long, from east to west, and fifty miles wide, from south to north. From the most eastern, to the most western part of the state, it is nearly two hundred miles, and from its most southern, to its most northern part, about ninety miles. I have got a picture of Massachusetts, drawn on purpose for you to look at. This picture is called a map, and you can see what the. shape of Massachusetts is. You can see that its shape is very irregular. When you look at the map, you must be careful to turn your face toward the north, and hold the map, so that the words, Vermont, New Hampshire, may be toward the north also; then the top of the map will be north, the bottom, south, the right hand, east, the left hand, west. With the aid of the map, you will easily learn, that Vermont and New Hampshire touch, or bound Massachusetts on the north side; that Connecticut, Rhode Island, and the sea bound it on the south side; that the sea bounds it on the east side; and that New York bounds it on the west side. Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York, are States. So you see there are other States beside Massachusetts. There are indeed many others, but I cannot speak of them at present. The sea, which touches Massachusetts on a part of the south side, and on the east, is called the Atlantic Ocean. How long is Massachusetts? How wide? What part of the map is north? What part, south? What part is east? What part, west? What States touch Massachusetts on the north side of it? What, on the south side? Is there any land on the east side of Massachusetts ? What bounds it on the east side? What State lies on the west side? LETTER IV. If you have studied the map with proper attention, you are now quite able to answer all the questions at the end of my last letter; and are ready to go on and prepare for answering other questions. I suppose you understand pretty well what is meant by towns; but you have often heard persons speak of counties. A county is made up of a number of towns. The particular reasons why the Commonwealth is divided into counties, will be given in another letter. In Massachusetts there are fourteen counties. If you attend to the map, you will see how they are situated. The most western county is Berkshire, the most eastern is Barnstable, the most northern is Essex, the most southern is Nantucket. The county of Worcester is near the centre of the State. The names of the counties, beginning at the most eastern, are the following; namely, Barnstable, Nantucket, Duke's, Plymouth, Bristol, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Middlesex, Worcester, Hampden, Hampshire, Franklin, Berkshire. If you look at the map, you will see, that Nantucket and Duke's counties are each of them surrounded by water. Neither of them touches the rest of the land in the State. A piece of land surrounded by water, is called an island; the map will show you, that there are many islands belonging to Massachusetts. What county do you live in? How many counties in Massachusetts ? Which county is the most eastern? Which the most western? Which the most northern? Which the most southern? Which counties are surrounded by water? What is an island? LETTER V. You see, by the map, that the counties in Massachusetts differ very much from each other in size and shape. Barnstable county has a very curious shape. It looks somewhat like a man's arm crooked at the elbow; and it runs out a great way into the sea. Nantucket county is made up of Nantucket Island, and several other small islands near it. Duke's county is made up of the island, called Martha's Vineyard, and of several other small islands. Suffolk county is smaller, that is, it contains less land than any other county in the State. You might walk from one end of it to the other in half a day. There are only two towns in it; but there are a great many people; and it is one of the principal counties in the State. The largest county in the State, that is, the county which has the most land in it, is Worcester county. I shall give you a particular account of the principal towns in all the counties, before I finish writing to you; but I do not like to crowd your memory with too many things at once. I will, therefore, conclude this letter with a number of questions, which you must prepare yourself to answer by studying the map. Which are the three smallest counties in Massachusetts ? Which is the largest county in the State? In what part of the State does it lie? How many counties are west of Worcester county? How many south and east of Norfolk? Name them. What counties lie between Worcester and Berkshire? What counties touch Norfolk on the southeast side? On which side of Plymouth county is the county of Bristol? How is Barnstable county situated? LETTER VI. I SUPPOSE it took you some time to learn how to answer all the questions in my last letter; but as good children love to please their parents and teachers, and especially, as they |